Matt Damon 'thrilled' for Ben Affleck's movie awards triumphs

LOS ANGELES, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Ben Affleck is stormingthrough the Hollywood awards season with his movie "Argo," andno-one could be happier than his old friend Matt Damon.

"Argo," which Affleck directed, produced and stars in, wonbest drama movie and best director awards at both the GoldenGlobes on Sunday and the Critics Choice last week. It is alsonominated for seven Oscars.

The story of the rescue of U.S. diplomats from Tehran afterthe 1979 Islamic Revolution, has put Affleck back in thespotlight after a grueling period 10 years ago when he becametabloid fodder while dating Jennifer Lopez, and the couplestarred in 2003 romantic comedy flop "Gigli."

Damon, with whom Affleck shared a screenplay Oscar for the1997 film "Good Will Hunting," talked with Reuters about hisfriend's success.

Q: You must be so proud of Affleck.

A: "I'm just thrilled for him. I'm really happy. I'm not atall surprised, because I've known him for so long and I know howtalented he is."

Q: Ben went through a rough patch in the early 2000s whenthe media was merciless with him, his career and his personallife. Was it rough to watch from the sidelines?

A: "It was tough to watch him get kicked in the teeth forall those years because the perception of him was so not who heactually was. I always felt a knee-jerk need to defend him. Itwas just upsetting. It was upsetting for a lot of his friendsbecause he's the smartest, funnest, nicest, kindest, incrediblytalented guy. And the perception of him was the opposite. Sothat was tough."

Q: When did that perception change for better?

A: "It's taken him a long time. It wasn't one thing that gothim out of the penalty box. He had to dig. He did a lot ofreally good work over a long amount of time. The last movie hedid ("The Town") was a great movie. And the movie before was agreat too ("Gone Baby Gone"). Finally people now are ready togo, 'Wow, he's at the very top of the food chain.'"

Q: The two of you came up together in your careers, and won a screenplay Oscar together. How is it that you escaped themedia scrutiny and he didn't?

A: "Ten years ago he was in a relationship (with actressJennifer Lopez) and he was on the cover of Us Weekly magazineevery week. Nobody was more aware of it than him. I talked tohim about it back then. He said, 'I am in the absolute worseplace you can be; I sell magazines not movie tickets.' Iremember our agent called up the editor of Us Weekly, beggingher not to put him on the cover any more: Please stop. Juststop! And she said, 'My hands are tied. He's still movingmagazines all through the mid-West. Sorry.' So he was aware ofwhat was happening as it was happening."

Q: Do you think "Gigli" deserved to be vilified in that waythat it was?

A: "There are a lot of movies that cost more and made lessthan 'Gigli.' But for some reason, people think 'Gigli' is thebiggest bomb of the last decade and it wasn't. There's anarrative that gets attached to all this stuff and Ben knew it.He had a millstone around his neck and that's it."

Q: As Ben goes through this awards season, what are youfeeling?

A: "Now I'm just thrilled. I'm watching him go through itand it's great. He deserves everything that he's going to get.Just for going through what he went through, he deserves it. Buthe deserves it because he made a great movie."

(Reporting By Zorianna Kit, editing by Jill Serjeant and DavidBrunnstrom)